


Dear Store 104

by oriol



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 14:59:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6289108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriol/pseuds/oriol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One time Eren threw down in a parking lot at three in the morning to score Armin a $5 calculator for Christmas and that's the story of how he got hired as that one security guard who went and tackled a nurse that was in the middle of saving someone's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dear Store 104

Eren's what he would consider First World Poor. Like, he can afford Wonder Bread but he doesn't actually buy it because Wonder Bread is disgusting. But he can't justify buying the really nice bread that he likes, so he generally just eats a lot of noodles. 

Mikasa's not poor. Not really, and neither is Eren - he just likes to be dramatic. When Eren's parents were offed by some thugs, he and Mikasa had discovered that they had named Mikasa as the main beneficiary of their finances - that is until Eren turned twenty-one. After that point, they were to share their inheritance.  It all made sense, considering that she was older than he was,  _and_ how by the time that Grisha and Carla had written their will, Mikasa had already been accepted into a top university for a business degree. 

Under those circumstances, Mikasa had decided that they weren't going to waste the money. She paid off the house, started a payment plan for her student loans, and then set aside some for Eren. Of course a large chunk went to funeral costs, because they'd be damned if their parents didn't get the funeral they deserved. Now they live off of what's left.

With a sigh, Eren looked down into his wallet. He had twelve dollars to his name, but it's not like Mikasa wouldn't take money out from the account if they needed it; it's just that she was away on a school trip and he didn't have a card yet. Sure, twelve bucks is enough to get someone a decent Christmas present, but not enough to get someone a decent present,  _and_ fill a tank with gas. Which he really needed to do, because his car was running on fumes.  

He then pouted and wished that he had spent the hundred dollars that Mikasa had left him a little more wisely. It shouldn't have been a problem, seeing as how it was Thanksgiving break and he didn't  _really_ need it for anything. However Eren can't cook so he's been ordering nothing but take out for the last few days. As stated before, this would have been fine. But only if he hadn't just gotten off of the phone with Armin.

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah. I'll be gone for about two months, but I'll be back a week or so before school starts again. We should grab breakfast before I go, I have your Christmas present!"_

_"Yeah, sure!"_

And now Eren had a little under twenty four hours to get something for Armin. It wasn't exactly a dire situation, but he decided to stress eat a bowl of chocolate cereal anyway. His wrestling coach was probably going to murder him for the extra pounds that he had probably put on this last week, but he planned on justifying everything by pointing out that it was Thanksgiving break, and that's what people were supposed to do.

Halfway through his carefully planned out fictional conversation between himself and his coach, Eren realized that he could just take Mikasa's car to the store. He knew she wouldn't mind, so long as he didn't leave any trash in it. He gave the clock on the stove a quick glance before he wiped off his milk mustache and jumped up from his seat. It was already getting late, but if he was quick enough, he could definitely snag something amazing for Armin. He ran over to the entry table and grabbed Mikasa's keys from the basket, however his nails just so happened to scratch against that weird, glossy type of paper that made his skin crawl. 

After shuddering for a solid five seconds, he looked down at what exactly had the nerve to give him goosebumps. It was last Sunday's paper, and it was covered in Black Friday deals. He raised an eyebrow before he grabbed the paper and leaned himself against the wall, keys jingling in hand.

He only skimmed, but that seemed to do the trick. Lo and behold, he found an entire page dedicated to Circuit City that featured only graphing calculators. Eren rolled his eyes and scoffed, "who's going to lose a limb for a  _calculator?_ More like Circuit Shi-" and that's when he remembered that Armin's calculator was stolen only two days before break had started, and that  _he_ was going to have to go and lose a limb for a five dollar calculator. He then chewed on his lip while he considered his options. He could either go fight some nerds for cheap calculators and have enough money left for breakfast tomorrow, _or_ he could risk everything and go double or nothing on a gift from somewhere else. He took a moment to think everything over before he eventually sighed and read back over the details of the ad. If Eren knew Armin as well as he knows he does, not getting the calculator suddenly came out of question. Of course Armin would need it. Of course Armin would want it. Of course he'd love it.

Now on a mission, Eren ran up to his room and grabbed his alarm clock. As he was walking back down the stairs, he set it for midnight and made his way back into the living room. From there, he threw himself down on the couch and shut his eyes with the will of a power nap strong in his mind. 

Eight hours later, Eren awoke to a faint beeping sound and an extremely numb arm. He groaned and awkwardly rolled himself over while he tried to figure out where he was, who he was, and where the sound was coming from. Eventually his eyes had found the glowing red numbers, but he had to squint and rub the gunk out of his eyes before he could properly read  them. _2:37_ , with the dot on the A.M. marker. 

"Nice, still got four more hours before school," Eren sleepily muttered to himself. He then shut his eyes and snuggled back into the couch cushions before he scrunched up his nose. "Wait," he obeyed the nagging feeling in his stomach and slowly opened one eye to take another look at the clock before him.  _2:38_. He squinted and stared at it until the eight lost two dashes and turned into a nine. 

And that's when he remembered.

He jumped up from the couch and made a mad dash for the door, cursing when his pinky toe was mercilessly taken out by the ottoman. Nevertheless, Eren trudged on. He grabbed the keys and his jacket before he ran outside to Mikasa's car. He quickly hopped in and jammed the keys into the ignition. It had started easily enough, which was fine by him. He ended up speeding for the first few blocks, only slowing down his pace when he remembered that he was only on the hunt for a calculator. He laughed at himself for getting so worked up, because  _surely_ no one else would be going to Circuit City for the same thing as him. Everyone else would probably be there for a t.v. or something, or maybe they'd just skip Circuit City altogether and go to the new Best Buy that had just opened up across town. He'd be  _fine._

Boy has he never been so wrong.

The parking lot was so packed that he had to pick a spot at the market across the street. The small trek back over the road wound up being a nightmare, and it truly is a wonder that he didn't become another Black Friday Casualty statistic.

When he finally had reached the entrance of Circuit City, Eren looked up at the big red sign before him and took a deep breath. He could already see people inside, packed in like sardines, yelling, screaming, and pushing others around. 

"Just here for a calculator," he whispered to himself. He then gave his shoulders a quick shake as he straightened up his posture and stepped inside. The loud roar of the crowd was the first thing to hit him. The second was some lady who elbowed him in the side because he had the _audacity_   to momentarily stand in front of a plasma screen while he gathered his wits. The third hit came from some kid whose toes he accidentally stepped on, and the next few hundred were _mostly_   jabs from the carts that everyone was pushing around. 

"Calculator, calculator, ow, calculator," became Eren's mantra for the next three minutes as he shoved his way through the crowd. Every now and then, he'd peek into someone's basket just to make sure that no one else was getting what he wanted, but mostly he just saw big ticket items. Finally, and by some grace of the heavens, he had finally reached the back of the store. Seeing as how this section harbored only small office electronics, it was practically a dead zone compared to the rest of the store. He walked over to the wall and hummed to himself while he looked for the exact calculator he saw in the ad, and when he did see it, he couldn't help but shout, "thank god!" before sliding it off of the wall. Suddenly becoming prideful of his expert gift picking, he turned it over in his hand and nodded to himself in congratulations. 

 _Look at you,_ he told himself.  _You found it and Armin's going to love it._

He then proceeded to wait in line for half an hour, all the while doing his best to block out the obscenities that were being thrown at the cashiers.

"I can help who's next!" One of them shouted from behind the desk.

" _Finally,_ " Eren let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and walked over to the guy who called him. He set the calculator down on the counter and began to fish around in his pockets for his wallet.

The cashier picked up the calculator and laughed, "wow, seriously? This may be the biggest purchase I've had all night."

Eren scowled and looked back up to the guy, "look, it's a present for my- Jean?" He tilted his head to the side.

" _Son of a bitch,_ Jaeger is that you?" Jean cracked a lopsided grin and scanned the calculator. "A present, eh? Kind of lame, but hey man, how's life treating you?"

"Uh...fine? And it's for Armin. Some jack-off stole his last week," he explained with a huff.

"What a loser. Always were the thoughtful one, weren't you? Well, when you weren't punching someone's face in. Hey, but even then, you were extra careful not to give me a shiner because picture day was that week," Jean dropped the calculator into a plastic bag, "five thirty-six," he said, holding his hand expectantly out to Eren.

Eren rolled his eyes and grabbed a ten from his wallet. He handed it over to Jean and waited for his change. "That was so long ago, when are you gonna get over that?"

Jean shrugged and slipped the bill into his register. "I'm over it, I swear!" He then began to pull some money out and count it, "you havin' a graduation party? You'd better make sure to invite me if you do!"

"Maybe," Eren grabbed his change and pocketed it after Jean handed it back to him. "Haven't thought about it, yet. See you around?"

"Yeah, sure thing. I mean it though, if you do end up throwing one!" And with that, Jean threw his arm into the air and declared that he could help the next customer.

Eren was then promptly shoved out of the way by some old lady with a cart full of video games. He nearly fell over, but he was able to catch his footing in time before he ended up crashing into one of the queuing line display cases. He threw a glare her way and made his way out of the store. When the glass doors slid open, a cool breeze ruffled through his hair. He sighed with relief and stuffed his hands into the front pocket of his jacket while he started to make his way back to the car.

"Hey, kid! Hey kid!"

He stopped and turned around on his heel to face the voice that had called him.

"Yeah, kid. Hey. Did you just buy the last Game Boy Advance?"

Eren squinted and turned to face the stranger head on. "No, I only bought a calculator."

The man laughed and started to walk toward him, "listen, kid. There's no need to play dumb with me! How much did you pay for it? I'll give you double."

"Seriously? I'm not kidding," Eren's eyes instinctively narrowed as the man drew closer, "I only have a calculator, look," he moved his hands around in his pocket in order to find his bag, but he didn't feel anything. He allowed himself to panic while he searched around for it. "I think I left it at the registers," he said more to himself than the stranger.

"Oh,  _sure_ you did. Son, I'm not messing around anymore. What do you want? I'll give you anything, you name it! I just need that Game Boy for my daughter, it's all she asked Santa for."

Eren clenched his jaw and looked back at the guy. "I'm being serious, I only bought a calculator! Now leave me alone," he had nearly growled the words as he began to walk back towards the storefront. 

That's when Eren felt the guy reach into his jacket pocket. 

After that was mostly a blur, but he does remember hooking his fist square into the stranger's jaw. He also remembers getting tackled, but after that is where it really gets dicey. A fist here, a knee there. Someone had bitten someone, but seeing as how they both wound up with teeth marks, it didn't really matter who chomped first. In the end, it was the stranger who had been left knocked out cold on the pavement while Eren was the one who had to be pulled away from the fight, fists still swinging.

Whoever had heaved him a few yards away from the fight gasped and dropped Eren on the ground. They coughed and started shouting at him, their breath sounding ragged, "Jesus, Eren, cut it out! Are you all right?"

Eren used his fists to rub at his eyes, however he only ended up smearing gravel and the blood flowing from his nose all over them. He groaned and accepted his fate of living the rest of his life right there on the ground. His ears wouldn't stop ringing, and his side felt a little strange, but it wasn't unbearable. In fact, the only thing he felt was tired. Exhausted, even. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Cops are on their way, but I saw the whole thing, don't worry. That ass totally started it, so you'll be fine," The voice paused and Eren could hear them walking closer, " _are_ you good? Seriously? Fuck, that's a lot of blood, Eren, can you hear me? You'd better stay awake or so help me-"

"Sorta wish I couldn't," he replied. The oncoming flashes of red and blue, along with the droning sound of the sirens, started to make his head spin. Now he felt like he was going to hurl. He'd probably feel better if he just slept it off, so that's what he did. 

-

"Eren, this isn't _quite_ what I had in mind when I said I wanted to have breakfast together," Armin looked up from his bowl of gray oatmeal and laughed. He had put crushed walnuts in it, but they didn't seem to be helping with the flavor.

Eren whined and poked at a grape in his fruit cup with a plastic fork, "it's the best I could do."

Armin shook his head and set the gross looking bowl of oatmeal down on the seat beside him. He crossed his legs and leaned back against the window while he eyed his friend with an air of concern. "So how do you feel?"

"Honestly? Like I got hit by a truck."

"An entire truck?" Armin shifted his weight to the side, "you sure you don't mean by one, tiny, switchblade?"

Eren abandoned all interest in his fruit and zeroed his focus in on his friend. " _Ouch,"_ he drawled, "all right, fine. We'll see if I visit  _you_ in the hospital when _you_ get shanked," he shoveled a spoonful of fruit into his mouth. It tasted like cough syrup.

"What, are you planning on stabbing me?" Armin grinned and peeled an oat flake off of his sweater, and without skipping a beat, he donned a perfect valley girl accent, "that's, like,  _so_ premeditated. Okay, okay! So in all seriousness, what exactly happened?" He flicked the flake over at Eren, "all this because some guy wanted your Game Boy?"

"I didn't even have a Game Boy! It was just a calculator," Eren's mouth twitched while he knitted his eyebrows together in frustration. Not because an oat flake had just landed in his hair, but because he was genuinely angry that the paramedics had hauled him away before he had a chance to grab the present from Jean. He forced another bite of the gross fruit into his mouth, not bothering to finish chewing all of it before he continued on with his story, "I went to go get you a calculator for your present. It was a cool one, too!" He finally swallowed his food and used the back of his arm to wipe his mouth, "it was exactly like the one you had, but gray instead of black."

At this, Armin's froze. He pulled a face - one that suggested that he thought Eren was only joking, "you mean you found a TI-83 _Plus_   _Silver_?" His eyes widened at the thought, and once it all registered with him, he practically bounced all the way over to Eren's bedside in excitement. "You're the best friend I could ask for, thank you! I'm so sorry you got stabbed over something like that, you really didn't have to!" He frowned before he enveloped Eren in a hug, "thank you."

"Yeah, sure, whatever that means," When Armin ambushed him, he accidentally dropped his fruit cup onto the ground. "Didn't have to get stabbed?" Eren let out a laugh, "damn right I didn't! But I _did_ have to get you the calculator, like, what are friends for?" He tried to reciprocate the hug, however the sudden stinging in his side caused him to grimace. "Ah! Ugh, that's definitely tender, ow," he dropped his arms and smiled faintly when Armin jumped back.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Eren shrugged and nonchalantly waved his hand in the air, "don't worry about it, it's fine! See, look," he pushed his scratchy blanket to the side and moved his hospital gown so that Armin could see the stitches. "It's only an inch long, I'll be good in no time. They even said that I could _probably_ go home tonight."

Before Armin could reply, there was a knock at the door.

"I'm here to see Mr. Jaeger; is everyone decent?" a voice from just outside asked.

"Yeah?" Eren quirked an eyebrow and turned to face Armin, who only shrugged in response.

"Good, then I'm coming in," the door swung open and a man wearing blue scrubs and a matching face mask stepped into the room. He nodded curtly in greeting to Eren before his eyes swept over to Armin, "sorry, but I'm going to have to ask that you step out into the waiting room until I'm done in here."

"He's my best friend, he can stay if he wants!"

"It's okay," Armin yawned and stretched his arms above his head. When he dropped them back down to his sides, he stepped over to his jacket and started to slide it on. "I should get going soon, anyway...I've got a flight to catch, remember?" 

"Right, that," a small wave of sadness washed over Eren, but he did his best to not let his friend see it. Instead, he simply smiled and gave Armin a thumbs up. "Have fun saving Africa, okay?"

"You knuckle-head," Armin  chortled and poked Eren's shoulder. "It's just a mission trip for that scholarship I was telling you about over summer. We're not saving anything, no matter how much we'd like to think we are." 

"Pft, like you're _actually_  going to go somewhere and  _not_ give it your all."

The man in the blue scrubs cleared his throat. The two boys looked over at him, but only one had glared.

Armin nodded and pulled a small box out from his pocket. He toyed with it in his hands before he offered it out to his friend, "merry Christmas, Eren. I'll see you next year!" After Eren grabbed it, he smiled and wrapped his arms around him in a hug that was more gentle than the first, "bye."

"Bye," he echoed. Eren would be lying if he said that his eyes weren't watering, so he was happy no one had asked. He lifted his arms and returned the hug while doing his best to ignore the intense burn that started to build at his side, "make sure to write, 'kay?"

"Yeah, I'll send like a million postcards, sound good?" Armin pulled himself away from Eren and used his sleeve to wipe at his eyes. "Okay, I should really go now..." he leaned over and grabbed his overnight bag, "make sure to save me some fudge, if Mikasa makes any this year!"

Eren laughed and nodded, "she'll probably whip up an entire batch  _just_ for you!" if she didn't, he made a mental note to make her do so. "Bye."

"Bye," Armin said again. He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked over to the door, taking a moment to turn and wave at Eren before he finally walked out and shut the door behind him.

"So that's your best friend?" 

Eren let the question hang out in the open for some time before he finally peeled his attention away from the door and looked over at the stranger in his room. "You're not the doctor," he said somewhat bitterly. To be fair, it's not this guys fault that his mood has suddenly dropped; however Eren's always had a hard time  _not_ letting his emotions get the better of him. Besides, this guy hardly projected any caretaker vibes. He looked more like someone who had recently marathoned an entire series and was now angry at the world because he'd _just_ learned that the show has been on hiatus for the last three years.

"Observant. No, I'm not your doctor," the stranger made his way over to the curtains and slid them shut before he turned to face Eren once more. "But I  _am_ your auxiliary nurse," that's when he stepped over to the bed and put his hands on either side of the meal cart. After making sure that nothing was in prime spilling position, he whisked the cart away, overtly making sure not to step in the juices from Eren's spilled fruit cup. "Can you tell me how you're feeling?" He parked the cart near the wall.

"Sore. My face hurts. So does my side."

The man nodded and picked up the clipboard that was hanging from the supply cupboard. "Fist fights'll do that," he said matter-of-factly while he jotted a few things down. "All right, Eren, I'm going to take your vitals and check on your injuries, are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said despite his first impression. It's really not like he had much of a choice.

The nurse didn't reply, not verbally. Instead he just gave him a slow nod before he began his work.

For someone who seemed to things so deliberately lethargic, he ended up being efficient, if nothing else. Eren's vitals were finished and charted  _way_ faster than they'd been done at any other yearly doctor's visit, and not only that, but he didn't ask any awkward questions about school or life. Once all of the basics were done, the nurse leaned over Eren and gently tapped the bandage on his nose.

"I'm going to redress your wounds now," he briefly glanced to the side before he looked back at Eren, "you still doing okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Eren dropped his gaze and squinted at the name badge that was now dangling in front of his face. He didn't like being that creepy guy who read someone's name tag, but he at least wanted to know the name of the man who was most likely so sleep deprived that he'd wind up screwing up so bad that it resulted in his death.  _Levi._ He sighed in defeat and took a moment to think about his funeral. He imagined that it would be a decent one, at least. Mikasa would make sure that everything looked amazing, and Armin would probably deliver an eloquent speech that made Eren sound like a better person than he actually was.

"Try not to move your face until I have the new wrapping on."

"Sorry," his morbid daydream was interrupted, and the ornate church filled with flowers and mourners faded into Levi's scrubs. He tried not to move a muscle, but it was a little hard to do so when someone with such icy eyes was staring so intently at his face. Eren fidgeted slightly, but the warning glance from Levi was enough to make him stop with his squirming. At that point, he decided that it would be best to just close his eyes and try to relax. "You don't seem like you'd be a nurse."

The feathered dabbing against his nose had stopped.

"Were you hoping for some old lady with purple eye shadow?" 

Eren felt something wet being wiped underneath his eyes, "no, you just...you don't...you know, usually they're more talkative. And older?" Despite the heavy bruising in that area, he refused to flinch.

"You didn't look like you were in the mood to talk," Eren could hear the telltale sound of gloves being peeled off and replaced by a new pair, "and not all nurses are ancient."

"Yeah, but like,  _I'm_ a senior in high school," when Eren had felt Levi lift the side of hospital gown to gain access to the stab site, he gave up on his silent oath of faux-darkness. "And _you_ could probably pass for a sophomore."

Levi glanced up at Eren. Once again, he looked to the side of him before he focused his attention back on the stitches. "Maybe that's because I  _am_ a sophomore?" 

Becoming slightly annoyed with Levi's side glancing habit, Eren turned his head. He didn't see anything. The only thing to the right of him was the window and the supply cabinet; however the news of Levi being at _least_ two years younger than him didn't give Eren much time to wonder what it was that he kept looking at. "What?" he tensed and scooted away from him, "is that even legal?"

"It is," Levi grabbed some gauze and held it up to the light while he pretended to examine it, "but I'm assuming that's only if we're both talking about a  _college_ sophomore. Do I have permission to continue? Or should I go grab you a more qualified, old lady nurse?" he fixed Eren with a flat expression while awaiting a reply.

Not like Eren was an expert or anything like that, but as far as body language, Levi wasn't doing much. His psychology class _did_ over that subject about a month ago, and he'd like to think that he at least knew something, yet, even though he had pulled an A on that chapter, he could not for the life of him tell whether or not he had actually offended Levi. "So you're still in school?" He had asked at last in an awkward attempt to make amends. 

Levi watched him, or at least that's what Eren had initially thought. Another swift glance to the side made him realize that he was wrong. Maybe there was a spider on the wall, and Levi was just too nice to say so. Maybe Levi could see ghosts. Eren figured that the latter made more sense. Then, after what had seemed like ages, Levi placed the gauze square over Eren's stitches. 

"Two more years until I can be an official, old lady, trauma nurse," he grabbed the medical tape and started to peel some of it off the roll. "Do you have a history of tachycardia?"

Levi's sudden joke had instantly made Eren feel more at ease, so he laughed. "Yeah, just make sure that you buy purple eye shadow to _really_ seal the deal. And...no, what's that?"

"It's when your heart beats faster than normal," because his hands were busy with scissors and tape, Levi nodded at something in Eren's general direction, "on the wall."

"Huh?" Eren craned his neck and looked at the wall behind him. Mounted about a foot or two to the side his bed was a small monitor that looked exactly like the ones he'd seen in the movies. "Is that what you kept looking at? Has that been here the whole time? Aren't they supposed to beep?"

"Not necessarily. What did you think all of those stickers on you were for?"

Eren gave himself a quick once over. He didn't see any stickers on his skin, but he _did_ suddenly become aware of something weird on his chest. He slid his hand through the collar of the gown and felt around.

"Don't tell me that you've just barely noticed them."

"No!" Eren narrowed his eyes defensively and removed his hand from the bumpy stickers that he most certainly did just barely notice. "But should I be worried? About the... _tacky_...thing?"

Levi shrugged and finished taping the gauze to Eren's skin. "I'll put it in my notes," he said, now taking a step back to examine his work. "It didn't start until I messed with your nose, oh look, there it goes again," he didn't sound the least bit surprised by the event. Nevertheless, and only after discarding his used gloves into the bin, he folded his arms over his chest and studied the monitor. "It's probably an isolated incident, you did just get stabbed, but I'll still let your doctor know."

Eren's stomach dropped, and he assumed that the news of him possibly having a condition was the reason why. "Yeah, thanks."


End file.
